First Presbyterian Church                                                             Rev. Michael J. Imperiale

Salt Lake City, Utah                                                                                                                          June 11, 2006

                                                                   TAKING THE PLUNGE

                                                           “Gifts – Putting Your Gifts to Work”

                                                                       Matthew 25:14-30

Introduction

The photos of sunrise from above the cloud cover during their ascent of Mt. Rainier are breathtaking.  Being there to take the photos was certainly even more breathtaking.  Last Labor Day, my son and six of his friends from the U summated this 14,000-foot composite volcano.  IN July, he will help guide another group of would-be mountaineers on this challenging climb.  When they arrive, they will spent a day or two eating healthy, training on some technical aspects of the climb, getting used to carrying 40-pound backpacks and going over logistics.  Mike says that the first hour of the eight hour hike to the Muir campsite is the hardest.  Then the body and mind get into a comfortable zone.  Sleeping from 4 pm until midnight, then the climb to the summit begins.  Significant effort leads to spectacular views and the fulfillment of reaching the goal.

The Christian life is like a climb and the church is like a base camp.  Here God calls his people to faith in Christ, trains and equips us to do ministry, and deploys us into the world to accomplish the goals of his good will.  Each one of us, pastor and lay person, has many opportunities to engage in the “climb,” to experience the challenge and wonder of participating in the Christian life.  Describing where you are in your won spiritual pilgrimage, at this moment in life some of you would say that you’ve simply been watching the peak from a distance maybe wondering what it would be like to stand on the summit.  Some of you are in the lodge listening to stories about climbing, looking at the photos taken by others.  Some of you may even be trained geologists but you’ve never climbed.  Some have been climbing for sometime now and others are ready to start.

The analogy is a good one.  Preaching and teaching, counseling and visiting, organizing and leading, sharing kindness and mercy, praying and giving are all among the calling, equipping and deploying that God wants to offer his people.  The Lord wants you and me to experience the joy and the thrill, the challenge and the exhaustion of using our lives and our gifts for ministry.

The parable of the talents illustrates what Jesus wants us to do with our faith.  Develop it, invest it, use it wisely.  Don’t just sit on it and assume it’s enough.

I.The Responsibility of Faith

Jesus said that God’s kingdom is like a man going off on an extended trip, maybe for business, maybe for a family visit.  Remember now that in Jesus’ day such a trip could take months or even years.  Travel was slow and great distances took a long time.

He calls his servants together and delegated responsibilities. This is what the Christian life, the faith experience is like.  A talent was worth about $250,000 in today’s value.  To one he gave five talents (over a million dollars), to another he gave two talents (half a million) and to a third he gave one talent (250,000).  That’s a lot of money and responsibility to delegate to each of these trusted servants.  But in his wisdom and judgment, the master gave these amounts depending on their abilities. 

God gives each of us enormous blessings and gifts.  He knows that each of us is in a different place in our faith development and entrusts us with what he knows we can handle at the time.

Right off, the first servant went to work and doubled his master’s investment.  How he did this we don’t know.  But he obviously put his own mind and heart into it.  The second man did the same.  But the man with the single talent (still $250,000 to use) dug a hole and carefully buried his master’s money.

Life is a precious gift from God.  The parable asks each of us the question, “What are you doing with your time.”  With work, family, home, church, business, finances, education, social life, etc, how are you using the 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year using your faith to make a difference for the Master?  What are you doing with your resources of money, abilities, talents?  If you had a million dollars, what would you do with it?  If you had a hundred dollars, what would you do with it?  The parable suggests that it’s the same question!  A million or a hundred, the Master hopes we will invest in his cause.  That’s what Jesus wants for you and me to do with the faith he’s given us.

After a long absence (Jesus had been gone for a long time now, about 2,000 years), the master of those three servants came back and settled up with them.  “Good job,” he said to the first two.  “You did your job well.  From now on be my partner.”  But the third servant tried to explain: “Master, I know you have high standards and hate careless ways, that you demand the best and make no allowances for errors.  I was afraid I might disappoint you, so I found a good hiding place and secured your money.  Here it is safe and sound, down to the last cent.”

Like this servant, we can totally misunderstand God.  Our Lord and Savior wants us to take risks, to step out in faith and try ministry of various kinds.  God does make allowances for errors.  He’s actually disappointed when we don’t try out our faith.  Jesus says that the master was furious.  That’s a terrible way to live.  You could have done something with your talent instead of just sitting on it.

When Jesus returns (and he will for each one of us), he will say, “Take the talent from this play-it-safe, won’t go out on a limb guy and give it to the one who risked the most.  Then throw him out into utter darkness.”  In essence, Jesus is saying, “What good is salvation if it doesn’t make any difference in your life?  What good is faith if you don’t apply it to everyday living.”

In Matthew 24 and 25 there are four parables that deal with this time in-between Jesus first coming and his second.  They call followers of Christ to be ready for his coming, to be responsible in our behavior, to be productive in the meantime, and to be accountable for our faith.

II.Giftedness Today

This is the fifth message on Taking the Plunge today using the letter G for Gift – p-l-u-n-g: putting your gifts to work.  One of the best ways to figure out what God wants you to do with your life is to take a look at your abilities and assets.  Are you good at working with children or visiting elderly people?  Do you enjoy working behind the scenes or problem solving or organizing things?  How are you at sharing your faith or teaching the Bible?  The Lord and his church needs people who are good at listening and caring, motivating and leading, peacemaking and reconciling.  Gifts for ministry include cheering others on, making people laugh, playing ball, and hanging out with kids.  Here at First Presbyterian, we have ministries and needs for ushers and greeters, Sunday school teachers, musicians, youth leaders, small group hosts and facilitators, hospital visitors, men’s and women’s fellowship groups, taking care of our building and finances.

The parable of the talents is meant to produce a heart-felt response.  Jesus wants each one of us to say, “Lord, I want to be like the guy given the five talents or the two who invests these gifts and produces a growing result.  And, Lord, keep me from being like the one who just buries it and is afraid to try and grow in faith and life according to your gifts.”

Conclusion

My job as pastor is to help your maximize your ministry as a Christian person and as a member of this congregation.  My job is to help call, equip and deploy.  Here at this base camp, I hope you will learn and grow in faith but then go out into the world “climbing,” doing the Lord’s work, growing his kingdom according to the gifts he has entrusted to you.  Imagine the breathtaking photos and exhilarating feeling that the Lord has for us at the top of the mountain. 

Let us pray together.